Introduction. Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion is the standard surgical treatment for cervical discopathy and myelopathy caused by degenerative disc disease and osteophyte formation. The primary goal of the procedure is decompression of neural structures within the spinal canal by removing compressive pathology. Although neurological recovery after the procedure has been widely studied, data on neurological status in the immediate postoperative period remain limited. This retrospective study analyzed the association between clinical and radiological characteristics and early postoperative neurological recovery following the surgery. Material and Methods. The study included 66 patients who underwent the procedure at the Clinical Center of Vojvodina between 2022 and 2023. Statistical analysis using the ?2 test and Fisher?s exact test (p<0.05) evaluated the influence of neurological deficit type, number of operated levels, presence of spondylosis, and type of disc pathology on early postoperative neurological outcome. Results. Overall neurological improvement was observed in 82.5% of patients, with 42.8% showing significant improvement and 39.7% mild improvement. Statistically significant difference in early neurological recovery was found between single-level and two-level procedures (p=0.005), as well as between patients with disc protrusion and those with disc extrusion (p=0.035). No significant association was identified between early neurological recovery and neurological deficit type or the presence of spondylosis. Conclusion. Disc protrusion and a lower number of operated levels are positive predictors of early neurological improvement after the procedure, whereas spondylosis and neurological deficit type do not significantly affect early outcomes. Early postoperative neurological assessment may provide valuable insight into overall functional recovery.
Stanković et al. (Wed,) studied this question.